EDGE Boost Pro Conclusion

IMPORTANT: Although the rating and final score mentioned in this conclusion are made to be as objective as possible, please be advised that every author perceives these factors differently at various points in time. While we each do our best to ensure that all aspects of the product are considered, there are often times unforeseen market conditions and manufacturer changes which occur after publication that could render our rating obsolete. Please do not base any purchase solely on our conclusion, as it represents our product rating specifically for the product tested which may differ from future versions. Benchmark Reviews begins our conclusion with a short summary for each of the areas that we rate.

SandForce SSDs have taken the market by storm, which has helped niche companies like EDGE Tech to expand their reach deep into the high-performance storage hardware segment. Not only are these SandForce-driven solid state drives extremely fast, but more importantly they're capable of SLC-level operational performance I/O and NAND durability. The EDGE Boost Pro SSD builds from the powerful SandForce SF-2281 solid state processor, which brings innovation to the SSD industry by prolonging MLC NAND flash module lifetime and delivering RAID-like data redundancy. When one SandForce product is physically identical to another, the overall value depends on price, warranty, and customer support. If you're price shopping, a quick stroll through our Storage Section reviews will reveal how other SSD options compare.

The 120GB retail kit (EDGSD25120GBOOSTS6) that EDGE Tech sent us for testing is advertised to deliver 85,000 maximum write IOPS, or 50,000 sustained. EDGE Tech neglects to specify how this rating was achieved, and under what circumstances these results could be reached. Using a SandForce-provided configuration for our own Iometer operational performance tests, we used a queue depth of 32 outstanding I/O's per target to produce a modest 49,496 combined read/write IOPS performance. In this test, the formatted EDGE Boost Pro SSD trailed all other 2nd-generation SandForce SF-2281 based storage devices benchmarked using this configuration and manages to position itself just ahead of 1st-generation SandForce-driven SSDs. In the 4K 32QD tests with AS-SSD and CrystalDiskMark, the EDGE Boost Pro SSD again settled midway down our charts and placed among the fastest 1st-generation SandForce storage devices. With the results we've received in our tests, hardware enthusiasts can expect good operational performance and storage functionality for demanding applications and extreme I/O environments, but clearly there are better-performing models with tweaked firmware.

Solid State Drives are low-visibility products: you see them just long enough to install and then they're forgotten. Like their Hard Disk Drive counterparts, Solid State Drives are meant to place function before fashion. Anything above and beyond a simple metal shell is already more than what's expected in terms of the appearance. EDGE Tech has created a back-to-basics look with the gunmetal textured finish on their Boost Pro series SSDs. As solid state storage controllers become faster and more advanced, heat dissipation through the enclosure walls may demand that chassis designs become more beneficial than they previously needed to be. This isn't the case yet, and a metal chassis suits SandForce SSDs nicely.

SSDs are not prone to mechanical failure, but if any EDGE Boost Pro solid state storage product does happen to fail during the 3-year warranty period end-users may contact EDGE Tech Corporation via their support website. Fortunately, there's also a toll-free telephone number (800-259-6565) for free technical support and customer service questions.

The EDGE Boost Pro is competitively priced, and available direct from EDGE Tech. As of September 2011, the following EDGE Boost Pro SSD models and pricing are available:

Based on the SandForce SF-2281 SSD processor, the EDGE Boost Pro solid state drive delivers native TRIM garbage collection and basic SMART support with impressive 553 MB/s transfer speeds. More importantly, SandForce DuraClass technology adds their proprietary RAISE and DuraWrite features not available with other SSDs, and the end result is a product that could last up to five times longer with less wear on NAND flash modules.

On paper, the EDGE Boost Pro looks like it competes directly with top-end 2nd-generation SandForce SF-2281 SSDs. While the speed was quite fast, IOPS operational performance results weren't as impressive. We understand that this is a 120GB model, but the specifications are identical for all capacities across the entire Boost Pro series. Considering the comparative level of performance we've experienced with the EDGE Boost Pro SSD, this solid state drive would be a good fit for high-performance power-users. When used to upgrade a notebook computer's hard disk drive, the EDGE Boost Pro SSD enables response speeds that will amaze you.

Unfortunately after being burnt by a GTX460 review, a GTX460 that was supplied by the manufacturer for the review, and was a different spec to the released version I will take this one line very seriously:

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by EDGE Tech.

That is very unfortunate, which is why we disclose the source of our samples in every article. Almost every sample we receive is identical to full retail, but occasionally there are changes made to the retail product without any notice given.